DMV employee accused of providing confidential information for crimes

By McKenzie Romero , Deseret News

Published: Sunday, Aug. 2 2015 4:49 p.m. MDT

The woman also told investigators she "most likely" had used the DMV computer system to identify the other driver in the June 2012 road rage incident and had provided that information to her husband with the intent of retaliating, the search warrant states. ()

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah Division of Motor Vehicles employee has been fired over allegations she provided private information acquired at work for the commission of crimes.

It all started with a car fire.

A search warrant filed in 3rd District Court reveals the Salt Lake City Fire Marshal began investigating a car fire set outside a home near 1400 North and Morton Drive (1360 North) almost a year ago.

According to the search warrant, the driver of the torched vehicle, a gray Mazda 3, was involved in a road rage incident near her home June 19, 2012. A day later, while the car was parked in the driveway outside the home, it burst into flames. Investigators discovered an incendiary device inside the car.

A week later, an anonymous female tipster told investigators she believed the driver of the second vehicle in the road rage incident was a woman who worked for the DMV. The tipster accurately described the second vehicle, a blue Chevy pickup with a L.A. Dodgers sticker and "family member" stickers on the rear window.

Investigators used the tip to track down the woman, who told police in an interview earlier this year that she has used her DMV computer access "on multiple occasions over the past 14 years" to obtain personal information about Utah motorists and then disseminated that information with the understanding it would be used to commit crimes, according to the search warrant.

The woman also told investigators she "most likely" had used the DMV computer system to identify the other driver in the June 2012 road rage incident and had provided that information to her husband with the intent of retaliating, the search warrant states.

A spokesman for the Utah State Tax Commission, which oversees the DMV, said the agency has no way of knowing exactly how many people had information revealed, but the agency is aware of two or three individuals who were targeted.

The woman has not been arrested or charged and was advised by her lawyer not to comment on the case. She was fired from the DMV in March.

The computer and printer the woman used at the DMV was seized in February as part of the investigation, along with electronic information, the search warrant states.